Malted milk process



v Patented Apr. 5, 193.2

UNITED STAT- s PATENT OFFICE OOIIEPAIN'Y, INC, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK uamnn mrx -raocnss m Drawing. Application filed my a,

My invention is in 'the nature of a new malted milk product, and a process for mak ing the same, by which an extremely palatab e nourishing and healthful roduct is madein a very attractive form, e marketed as a confection. p I

The product in its present referred form consists of a substantially sp er-ical ball of malted milk having a dense and substantially uniform and minutely cellular structure throughout, which is as stated, extremely. palata.

le nourishingand healthful in character and appetizing in appearance, resists disintegratlon extremely well under ordinary conditions and being free from the large superficia and internal foraminous cav1ties of varying size which-characterize ordinary malted milk in the ordinary cake form beforeit is powdered, can be evenly and easily coated with chocolate or other appropriate flavoring or moisture excluding material. J

. In making these malted milk balls present time, I refer to make the malted milk ball in the orm of a syrup as usual by transforming the starch in wheat. flourinto maltose and dextri-maltose and combining the. product with the proper proportion of concentrated milk without sugar. I obtain a better roduct however by usm a combination WhlCh is somewhat richer an usual in maltose and dextri-maltose. I then evaporate and concentrate the malted milk to'a heavy syrup. I now prefer to efiect this evaporation and concentration in a vacuum pan under a vacuum of about inches and at a temperature of 135 F.

I then by continued evaporation and agitation form the syrup into a tafl'y of substanvacuum eader and continuing the agitaat' the 1929. Serial 1W0. 861,858. tion for aboutfifteen to twenty minutes, the

tafiy being thereby changed from a darker to a lighter shade owing to the greater 0cclusion of air.

. The aerated tafl'y thus, made is then by.

preference poured into trays, preferably of metal, to form slabs about one, inch more or nus'rm A. soon, or aocxvrnnn' cnnrnn, nnw roan, nssrenor. 'ro nns'rnn's noon 1 less in thickness, the trays being held in a v room or chamber at a. temperature of about 135- F. to keep the tafiy from cooling and hardening. f The mass at this stage is still in thick tafly orm.

The slabs thus formed are inm present practice deposited upon .a table an out into 'slu s, at present preferably about ten inches in ength, six inches in width and of course 7 about one inch in thickness.

These slugs are then rolled, under about the same temperature, into sheets about three sixteenths of an inch in thickness, when it is desired, as in the present example, to form the finished product or balls about one half inch in diameter, and into proportionately thicker sheets, when larger balls are desired. v

In practice -I have found it desirable to pass the slugs through reducing rolls several times to maintain the sheet at, the thickness desired, as the tafi' tends to expand after rolling.

This ro ling rocess assists in making the subdivisions 0 throughout the mass.

The sheets thus formed are then divided into small squares which, to form a half inch ball-for example, are about one quarter of an air minute and uniform inch square and as stated about three sixteenthsof an inch in thickness.

At present I preferto divide the sheets into these squares by passing them through appropriate knife rolls, first longitudinally and then transversely, so that the sheets will be scored deeply but not cut through.

7 I then prefer to cool and harden the scored sheets either by passing them in a conveyor through a tunnel through which passes a current of cold air or by placing them on tables or shelves chilled by circulating Water.

I The chilled scored sheets, which are to; be completely divided into cubes, should be for which the scored sheets are divided into i by passing cubes of substantially uniform siae and shape. The next ste is the expansion of these malted milk cu es into spherical balls.

To this end, the cubes are preferably even- 1y spaced in trays, which now accomphsh them through grids erforated erly spaced holes of a diameter or with pro tly greater than the area of the area slig cubes.

These tra s are now placed on shelves heated by circu ating water to a temperature of about 205 F. in a chamber under a vacuum of about twenty-eight and one half inches.

The vacuum is started slowly, the operator keeping sample trays under observation as by means of a window provided 1n the vacuum chamber.

The air and moisture contained n the tafiv expands in the uniformly distributed minute cells of the cubes and expands the cubes slowly into substantially spherical balls under the reduced exterior pressure, to the predetermined size. I a

The vacuum is then increased more rapidly to and maintained at about 28 inches or more for about half an hour to hold and maintain the expansion until the ball becomes fixed, and the moisture is then reduced to about 3% or less. During this process the expansion of the air and water that have been 1ncorporated in minute particles into the taify, form the minute cellular interior structure, as both the heat and the vacuum are working from the outside surface of the morsel The moisture within the morsel, which 1s responsible for its soft or "plastic condition, is gradually drawn outward toward the surface at the same time that the cellularstructure is forming.

In the manufacture of these malted milk morsels, under the combined influence of heat and vacuum three processes occur which tend to produce the self-assumed protective outer wall.

First, the more rapid evaporation of the outer surface tends to thicken and render less elastic the tafiy comprising the walls of the outer cells so that these do not expand to the same degree as the inner cells.

Second, the outer cells lose their air and moisture through more rapid moleculatr diftenses if desired, may be further enforced by a super-moisture resisting chocolate coating. This self-assumed outer shell also prevents any such final chocolate coating from entermg the interior cells, which is uneconomic.

,When the morsels are bein prepared for subsequent introduction into the heating and vacuum chamber by rolling and cutting, the first stages of the formation of the outer shell are started because of the peculiar moistureattracting quality of the malted milk tafly.

The vacuum is then broken and the balls preferably taken from the trays to permit cooling as quickly as possible.

The finished balls thus produced are, as stated, of straw color, brittle, of substantially uniform minutely cellular structure, smooth surfaced and almost perfectly spherical in shape. They are more resistant to moisture, breakage and disintegration than the malted milk mass as ordinarily prepared, can be easily packed and transported and are extremel appetizing in appearance, palatable, nouris ing and healthful.

Owing to their compact, firm and minutely cellular structure and smooth surface, as distinguished from the large irregular cavities and foraminous structure of ordinary malted milk in cake form after ordinary evaporation and drying, these malted milk balls or bodies can be easily and permanently coated with chocolate or otherprotective or flavoring material before marketing.

It is evident that my new product may be made in other shapes than balls and of Varying character, and that it may be produced by many variations of the specific process described, without departing from the boundaries of my invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim as my invention 1. The process of making a malted milk product which consists in making malted milk in syrup form evaporating and agitating the melted milk until it forms a tafiy with a small percentage of air and moisture distributed evenly .therethrough in minute cells ofsubstantially uniform size throughout, forming the uniformly aerated malted milk taify into small hardened pieces, and expanding the small pieces by the vacuum process into small compact malted milk bodies ance, into small pieces, I broken into separate small pieces and the syrup then evaporated and product as set forth in claim 1,

menses of substantially uniform minutely cellular structure throughout.

2. The process of making a malted milk product as set forth in claim 1 inwhich the separate pieces of hardened malted milk are formed into cubes and the cubes expanded into small substantially spherical bodies.

3. The process of making a malted milk product as set forth in claim 1 in which the malted milk syrup is first evaporated in vacuum to form the tafi'y the tally then further evaporated and agitated in the vacuum; the vacuum broken and the agitation continued to aerate uniformly the tally; and the tafiy dried and formed into the finished product.

a. The process of making a malted milk product as set forth in claim 1 in which the aerated tafiy is formed into sheets, the sheets divided into small pieces, and the small pieces expanded in vacuum into the finished product.

5. The process of making a malted milk product as set forth in claim 1, in which the aerated tafiy is formed into slabs, the slabs cut into slugs, the slugs rolled into sheets, the sheets divided into hardened small ieces, and the separate small pieces expan ed in vacuum into the finished product.

6. The process of making a malted milk product as set forth in claim 1 in which the aerated tafiy is formed into sheets, the sheets divided by scoring, without complete severthe scored sheets separate small pieces expanded in' vacuum into the finished product.

7. The process of making a malted milk product in which the malted milk is first made into a syrup form; the malted milk agitated to form a uniformly aerated tafiy; the aerated tafiy rolled into sheets; the sheets divided into hardened small square pieces of substantially equal size, and the substantially square pieces expanded in vacuum into small compact balls.

8. The process of making a malted milk product which consists in making a malted milk in syrup form, evaporating and agitating the melted milk until it forms a taffy with air and moisture distributed evenly throughout in minute cells, and expanding these cells of air and moisture in a vacuum to form compact malted milk bodies of substantially uniform minutely cellular structure throughout.

9. e process of making a malted milk in which the malted milk syrup is first eva orated in vacuum to form the tafly,-the ta y further evaporated and agitated and aerated, the vacuum then applied to uniformly expand the tafiy and dry and form it into the fimshed product. v

In testimony whereof I a my signature.

AUSTIN A. SCOTT. 

